Parents’ attitude about Inclusion of students with Autism Spectrum in Public Schools of Australia
Miranda, A., Tárraga, R., Fernández, M. I., Colomer, C., & Pastor, G. (2015). Parenting stress in families of children with autism spectrum disorder and ADHD. Exceptional Children, 82(1), 81-95.
The nurturing of children with some behavioral and communication disability is highly challenging for parents, in contrast of raising a normal child. The study of … has investigated the parents of 121 children of which 23 children were suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and made a comparison with children suffering from ADHD and typical Child (CG). The results have shown that parents of children with ASD were highly stressed, as the children were less adaptable to the changing situations, were mainly the source of negative reinforcement, were too much demanding towards the parents and presented mood and acceptability issues. Parents of children with ASD were suffering from depression and have lesser sense of competency, indicating that parents are less competence to meet the demands of their children. Another issues which have been mentioned by the parents were about the role restriction, isolation, minimal feelings of closeness and attachment with the child and deteriorating health and wellness of the parents. The study added that such parents are likely to develop hostile and aggressive attitude towards their children and thus they might restrict the positive development and learning of their child.
The relevance of this study with my topic is indicated by the notion that parents’ attitude towards the inclusive education for children with Autism Spectrum is substantially based on their level of ease and stress. When parents will be highly stressed, then they are more likely to have negative reactions and negative relationship with the education providers. This article has presented that parental stress causes negative interaction between the parents and children. In order to support education of children with ASD, the support of parents is highly important and stressed parents are less likely to offer needed support for child who are in inclusive schools. The authoritarian parenting style is also witnessed for stressed parents, which could adversely intervene with the effectiveness of inclusive education of children with ASD.
Although this study does not addresses the topic directly, as discussion of parents attitude towards inclusive education is missing. Yet, the insight from the study highlights that interventions which enhance involvement of parents, should include the aspect of parental stress into account. The stressed parents will not be in position to positively reinforce the development of their child and they are also less likely be satisfied with the inclusive education of their children, as they develop hostile and negative behavior. Likewise, the study also calls for attention of education providers and other supporting institutes to offer outside support and encouragement to the parents of children with ASD. The inclusive education providers of Australia who are offering support to the children with ASD, should consider that when children do not receive necessary support from parents, then any well devised education strategy might not be implemented with effectiveness. The stress of parents should be catered by different interventions and they should be encouraged to offer greater support to the child at home. Thus, the chosen article can further enhance the role of parents and teachers in development of children with ASD.
Abu-Hamour, B., & Muhaidat, M. (2014). Parents’ attitudes towards inclusion of students with autism in Jordan. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 18(6), 567-579.
The chosen research study has investigated the attitude of parents towards inclusive education of children with ASD in Jordan, whereby inclusive education is the inclusion of children with ASD in mainstream schools. The investigation was carried out by 148 parents of which 73 have responded in favor of inclusion, while others have reflected negative attitude. The inclusion of ASD children in mainstream education is supported by the view that they gain chance of interacting with normal kids and can foster their behavioral and social learning. The inclusion is also considered as right of the children with ASD to gain education in mainstream educational institutes, as it motivated them to challenge their limits. On the other hand, parents who have shown adverse attitude were of the view that teachers in mainstream schools are not better able to understand the needs of children with ASD, as they are not trained to offer education to children with special needs. Likewise, the special children might feel embarrass while interacting with typical children. The study has further revealed that when children with ASD are included in mainstream education, then their needed skills be focused separately, such that their specified needs can be addressed.
The linkage of this study with the topic is based on the notion that it has carried out in-depth investigation of parents’ reaction towards inclusion of children with ASD in schools. The issue was investigated in the context of Jordanian Schools, yet the insight can be helpful for Australian school system to improve education of children with Autism spectrum. The insight of parents’ attitude from Australian context in my study, might reveal some differentiated aspects, which can be compared with other nations, such as Jordan. The conversion of negative behaviors of parents towards inclusive education of children with ASD is another opportunity which has been revealed in this study. The concerns of parents can be catered for, with the purpose of seeking their involvement for enhancing the child’s learning. By seeking the insight of parents’ concerns about the inclusive education of ASD children, future studies can further explore that how parents can be coordinated to posit positive attitude towards the inclusive education of ASD children. For instance, input of parents can be obtained about the differentiated needs of their children. The further exploration can be conducted about the ways through which teachers should be trained to address the differentiated learning needs of children with Autism spectrum. Finally, the social background of parents might also make a difference in their attitude towards inclusive education of students with ASD. This aspect was not addressed well in the chosen article and it is expected that background characteristics are considerable for shaping positive attitudinal outcomes of parents.
Roberts, J., & Webster, A. (2020). Including students with autism in schools: a whole school approach to improve outcomes for students with autism. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 1-18.
Around 52% of children with ASD in Australia seek education through mainstream school system and the article has provided insight of the effective education system for children with Autism spectrum. The concerns of parents which are being regarded important to improve education system for ASD children are the lack of parents’ involvement in decision making and poor communication between parents and teachers. The characteristics of the effective school for ASD children are mentioned clearly, including; involvement and collaboration of family, flexibility in the system to include the special preferences and circumstances of ASD students, resource availability, administrative attitude, well define transitioning system, assessment and review evaluation and multidisciplinary support, among others. The whole of school approach is regarded as important which encompasses involvement of multiple stakeholders, and such system is regarded as multi-tiered system. The first tier is of whole school level, the second tier is targeted group and third tier is individual level. The paper has proposed School-Wide Autism Competency (SAC) program to encompass the aspects of leadership, competency and organization.
The relevancy of the paper is based on the notion that it has detailed the framework through which competency of education for Autism Spectrum students can be enhanced by lowering the challenges faced by students, teachers and their families. The views of parents are acknowledged and it is appreciated in the paper that multidisciplinary approach is crucial for meeting the learning goals of ASD students in inclusive education system. The concerns of parents are noted while developing the competency framework, indicating that communication with parents and their voice in decision making is important for seeking positive attitudes of parents. One important aspect of the first tier practice of supporting the students with autism is the collaborative approach of working with parents, such that active learning of the students can be fostered. As my study is aimed at investigating the attitude of parents towards the inclusive education of students with autism spectrum, so the insight of this research is important to understand that what schools’ management is doing to foster positive attitudes of parents. This paper will allow to view the other side of the picture, as indicated the schools are willing to make reliance on a team based approach, whereby they can be partnered with the parents to assure that needs of children with autism spectrum can be met. My study can further explore that to what extent the School-Wide Autism Competency approach is being actually implied by and followed in Australian public school system, by reflecting on it from the parents’ perspective. If parents will provide any evidence of discrepancy in the implementation of competency framework, then this opportunity might be availed by public school system of Australia for bringing further improvement in inclusive education.
Lui, M., Sin, K. F., Yang, L., Forlin, C., & Ho, F. C. (2015). Knowledge and perceived social norm predict parents’ attitudes towards inclusive education. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 19(10), 1052-1067.
The study has reflected on the predictors of the parents’ attitude towards inclusive education of children with special education needs. Two of the key predictors are education level and social norms held by the parents, indicating that higher grade level serves as the antecedent of positive attitude. The key reason of positive attitude is the socialization of the child in inclusive schools system. However, the parents have shown less positive attitude when their children get aged, as indicated the older children have wider gap in socialization than the younger children. Finally, the study revealed that male parents hold good knowledge of policy on inclusion and they possess more positive attitude than their female counterparts.
The relevance on this study with my chosen topic is mainly linked with the perspective that attitude of parents is analyzed in this chosen article and antecedents of parents’ attitude are being detailed. In my study I will focus on investigating the parents’ attitude towards inclusive education, yet I might not understand the factors which might cause that attitude. It indicates that reflection of chosen article can help me in recognizing the reasons behind specific attitude of parents, such as gender, grade level and social norms of the parents. Additionally, this study was conducted in the context of China and I might compare the difference in attitude of parents in Australia with the parents’ attitude in China, based on these three antecedents including; grade level, gender and social norms. Additionally, the revelation of study about the changing attitude of parents for younger and older children is also an opportunity to explore the phenomenon with narrow scope, as I might choose to control the effect of children age or can choose to make comparison between two age groups.
Reflection on the articles
Four the chosen articles in the study were mainly linked with the inclusive education of children with autism spectrum disorder, however the study of Lui et al. (2015) has talked about the children with special education needs who have some kind of disability. Likewise, the study of Roberts & Webster (2020) has detailed the concerns of school about inclusive education of ASD children, while other three studies have encompassed parents’ perspective and their attitude. Another difference witnessed in the study of Miranda et al. is linked with the notion that it has addressed the general stress level of parents about nurturing of children with ASD, and have not talked about the inclusive education.
Regardless of few differences, all of the studies have agreed on the fact that there are differentiated learning needs of children with ASD and parents are concerned about the specialized process being used for enhancing the effectiveness of learning for these children. Likewise, the aspect of open communication with parents, and their say in decision making is encouraged in the study of Roberts & Webster (2020). Another important insight was obtained from the study of Abu-Hamour & Muhaidat (2014) which has mentioned that socialization is the key benefit of inclusive education. On the other hand, the study of Lui et al. (2015) has found that attitude of parents is different for parents of younger and older children. Likewise, the grade level, gender and social norms were also considered as predictor of parents’ attitude in this study. Although, the different perspective shave been obtained in these studies, yet the overall relevance with my chosen topic was substantial, as I have become able to gain more in-depth insight of the issue.
